Jack Attack

Was thinking about our midfield for the future and without the addition of ready made mids from other teams and if we solely concentrate on the draft this year , we could have a gun midfield in a few years !!! Provided the young players are developed the right way. This is a possible future line up , assuming we keep all of Sylvia, Frawley and Watts , but understand that we may trade or lose some of these players , I know it's only on paper but I think with the right set up of the FD ( Good luck PJ ! ) that a side looking similar to this could be a contender in a few years . Also this assumes we qualify for a priority draft pick this year after our 1st rounder

B. Tynan Frawley Garland

HB. Grimes McDonald Blease

C. Trengove Viney Toumpas

HF. Howe Hogan Kent

F. Dawes Clark L. Taylor/Garlett

Ruck Gawn Jones Sylvia

Watts, Taggert, Aish, Dunstan/Crouch

Also you could consider Tapscott , Barry , M Jones , Terlich , Evans , Fitzpatrick

With the potential strengthening of a some mature ages recruits from other clubs through trade and FA, eg Levi Greenwood , David Ellard, Jason Winderlich, Ryan Harwood , Nick Suban , Viv Michie , Jesse Stringer , Michael Rischetelli , Anthony Miles , Xavier Ellis , Mitch Hallahan, Shane Savage , Thomas Curren, Faren Ray , Craig Bird , Daniel Cross , Adam Cooney

The future is not as bleak as we think ?

Ran past the boys at the tan today , they had just finished doing some grueling hill sprints , wished the boys goodluck for season , seems to be a really upbeat vibe to the group and they are looking fit !!! Dan Nicholson looks particularly fit!! if he can clean up his kicking he has all the tools to be a quality player I reckon

I don't mind trading pick 4 for Daniel Rich ,has anyone checked out his YouTube clips? Elite foot skills , runs hard and can spread , tough courageous and can find the footy , has improved on dealing with a hard tag , he is also a goal kicking mid and can thump them from well outside 50, still only, 22-23 so fits our age demographic nicely , what's not to like about him ? In saying that though Olly Wines or Toumaps or O'Rourke at Pick 4 would be fantastic aswell !!!!

I don't mind trading pick 4 for Daniel Rich ,has anyone checked out his YouTube clips? Elite foot skills , runs hard and can spread , tough courageous and can find the footy , has improved on dealing with a hard tag , he is also a goal kicking mid and can thump them from well outside 50, still only, 22-23 so fits our age demographic nicely , what's not to like about him ? In saying that though Olly Wines or Toumaps or O'Rourke at Pick 4 would be fantastic aswell !!!!

Looking at likely prospects, and I really think based on the fixture we will either end up in 16th or 15th position

If that is the case then ....

Pick 3-4 - jack viney (don't think we will get him in the second round - def worth it here though )

Pick 4-5 compo pick - stringer/toumpas/Vlastuin/ Grundy /Simpson / plowman

These would all be good options ...heard somewhere that the club rates Lachlan plowman very highly (dees supporter too ) Andrew mackie type , so halfback flanker could push to the wing , I would love jimmy toumpas though , quick skillful classy mid with real leadership

Stringer would be a good get , Brendan Goddard type ,explosive fwd/utility , but is recovering after a broken leg

Pick 13 - Menzel (brother of Daniel ) , O'Rourke , Kennedy (would give us a great small forward option who tackles )

Or possibly Dayle Garlett , Oliver wines , mathew Haynes, Sam Mayes could all be good options at this pick

Anyone want to stick their neck out and say who we should recruit this year ?

Two other free agents that would def be pursuing considering the saints salary cap crisis are Leigh montagna and Farren Ray , we need to recruit a combination of elite young talent and some mature hard bodies to replace some of own senior place who just aren't up to it consistently

Just watching essendon and west coast , Ricky Dyson would be a interesting prospect as a free agent , has some speed can win his own ball , a very accurate kick , just starting to mature I reckon, could def add some experience and pace to our midfield , thoughts ??

Another potential midfielder to look at , that would come cheap , is Koby Stevens , from west coast , strong bodied , powerful , not getting a look in at west coast , may want to come home and has been starring in the WAFL had 38 possessions on the weekend !

This would be a perfect draft this stage, exactly the players I want , maybe O' Rourke from the Calder cannons instead of Garlett , if we finished 2nd bottom, which is every chance , getting jack viney for a second rounder would be on the cards ! GWS wouldn't risk giving up Whitfield !

What does everyone think about trading our 1st round compo pick for Dangerfield ? Apparently he is in no hurry to sign with the crows , would add heaps to the midfield , or would we prefer to keep our compo pick and hopefully use it on a potential pavlich like player like jake stringer if we could get him ? The other player I really want out of is draft is Jonathon O' Rourke dominating for calder and would give us outside class and speed in the midfield

Hey guys so obviously we have a huge huge hole at Full Forward/CHF that we are trying to get Mitch Clark to fill.. and Jamar is getting on in age...

I think with the two very high picks (top 10) we are going to get we have to go the best forward and ruck in draft... then with the next two picks in the teens take two speedy midfielders who must have good ball use as we are lagging behind in uncontested possessions this year and lack run and spread..... it is very hit and miss taking a tall later on.. but you can normally still get a great midfielder from 15-20.... and we also get Viney too..... so maybe a backman with a teen pick and one speedy midfielder?

Mids all the way for the 1st 3 picks , would love stringer or toumpas , viney and o' Rourke / Menzel and maybe Shannon Taylor for our 2nd round , lots and lots of options !!

To highlight the problem with our midfield , on super coach averages this year the highest ranked midfielder we have at the moment is Nathan jones coming in at number 65 !! Trengove is 69, really shows that we need some midfield stars soon ! I know super coach scores aren't everything but surely this is a concern !!!

I don't think we should embark on an entirely new rebuild. I would like to see Neeld (and others) tweak our list Sydney Swans style. Be smart about it - recruit the best available juniors, but also broaden the lens to hunt some effective recycled older players.

List management's a continuum. And that's what's annoyed the hell out of me to date with our recruiting and list development. I think it's been utterly naive. It's as though they've said - the starting line in this race is 2013, and any player who won't be on the list then will be exited, and we'll plug games into a load of skinny, under-developed kids prior to that date and, hey presto, we'll win a flag.

To my mind, it matters not whether player 'x' or player 'y' will be around to win a flag or not. It's whether they have a valuable contribution to make for the period of time in which they're on the list. And if they're in the best 22 and they fit into the structure that the club is building, play them. Make it hard for the juniors players to earn their spot. Create a proper, hard edged club culture.

I'm glad we have Neeld at the helm. I don't know him, but I know he gets it.

Absolutley agree , we need to recruit for the now and the future , I think ur right its Definetly something we have neglected , Sydney swans are the masters at it !

While i agree with your post I would like to add a couple of points.

I have seen many posts on here already pointing to the draft.

Fact is we have a whole season bar 2 games to go before we can draft.

I do not think it to be an overstatement to say that there are teams that have played the game that have had less talent than us and still managed to be more competitive.

I think Neeld needs to keep pushing our players regardless and attempt through the adversity to instill more heart and resilience with the group we have.

When the end of the season comes of course we can look to maximise our draft outcomes but prior to that every effort must go into turning around the culture of this club.

This will take a mammoth effort and unfortunately time (which we all don't want to stomach).

I think its unfortunate that many look towards the draft for a glimmer of hope already. It's understandable but boy we need to try to get off the canvas from here and fight starting this week against Richmond.

Reality is before the season we would have considered ourselves on par with Richmond. Reality is the only thing that has changed is players mindset. If we can get some confidence into these players and have them play honestly for each other things will have a different complexion.

Neeldy you have time....do what you know you need to do.

Agree with this whole heartedly !! Good post

And Some of the realistic players we need to target come trade time ....

David McKay, Richard Douglas (adel) ( has dangerfield re-signed with the crows yet ?)

David Ellard (Carlton )

Jarryd Blair (collingwood )

Nick Suban (Fremantle)

Simon Hogan (Geelong)

Josh Caddy , josh toy, Matt shaw ( gc )

Xavier Ellis ( hawthorn)

Steven salopek ( port )

Matt rosa, ash smith , koby Stevens (eagles)

Most of these players wouldnt cost an arm and a leg, could def add something to our list , and most are starved of oppurtunity at their current clubs making them realistic trade targets

Thoughts ?

This prob needs a separate thread but was thinking bout how we need to change the list for next year and obviously we need to wait till more of the season as elapsed, but for mine, we need to make at least 9-10 list changes

In - Viney, compo picks x 2 ( should be outside/inside mids - would love Lachy Whitfield but we would need to finish last , possibly jimmy toumpas from SA, Nick Vlastuin from northern nights or even Jonathan O'Rourke from the Calder Cannons) , 2nd round draft pick - small forward quick and loves to tackle (maybe a shannon taylor type from WA) , 3rd round pick , 4th round pick , 1-2 smart trades to fill a need , 2 new rookies to replace Evans and Lawrence perhaps ?

Out : Macdonald , Green ( he is past it !) , davey , Dunn , Bennell , maybe jetta , Evans , Lawrence and I would possibly would trade 2 of either moloney, jamar and Rivers

What does everyone think , it may result in some more pain but we need to have a semi rebuild !

Blease would clearly be our best chance , I can see tynan getting a nomination later in the year

Grimes was rested more in the second half but still played , def not injured , although Strauss copped a nasty hit and was a bit dazed for a bit , but he did manage to walk off unaided after been down for a while

Got out to Casey , bloody cold night tbh , game was really close and pretty good standard , when willy had the ball they used it better running through the mid field , but casey were more determined,

Watts - got better has the game went on , played in a number roles and should def play round one after that performance

Gysberts - very good in the midfield , missed a running goal late , clearance specialist and looks a bit bigger, will go close to round one selection

Grimes - didn't star but vey solid and will def play round one if match fit

Tapscott - tough and hard , skillful , neeld will love tappy, was very good tonight, prob needs another vfl match to be fit for senior footy , but shouldn't be far away

Morton - played a good second half I thought , such a confidence player , if he gets this right will be much better this year I reckon.

Fitzy - kicking still a concern , but improving all the time , starting to crash packs and took some good marks.

Morton with a goal at the start of the last

Rohan Bail impressive and Watts had a big influence that quarter.

Casey 3 points up at quarter time. Watts is starting to get a bit of ball and Gysberts is playing well.

Tapscott goal from 45 out on the boundary after a clever one handed mark, Grimes playing well and couch in and under

Well that would explain why he is not here haha

Watching them warm up cant see Blease out there, Strauss looks sharp!